Self-service checkout

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the reliable and rapid registration of articles, which are provided with a barcode and/or an RFID tag, at a self-service checkout. This is made possible by installing a barcode reader and an RFID reader in the region of the product registration area. In order to avoid double registration in the case of articles having both a barcode identifier and an RFID tag (transponder), the barcode reader and the RFID tag are connected to a data processing device, with the result that, if an article is registered twice, only the single price is calculated.

The invention relates to a self-service checkout for acquiring data frommerchandise.

Products in the commercial environment are usually marked with barcodeswhich are normally applied to the packaging or the product itself by themanufacturer. In order to read a barcode, use is made of barcodereaders, which are available in different forms for the various areas ofuse. The most common readers contain a laser and various mirrors inorder to scan the barcode pattern. There are barcode readers which arepermanently installed and portable barcode readers.

However, in addition to barcode technology, RFID (“radio frequencyidentification”) systems are also increasingly being used asidentification marks and are utilized to identify products.

An RFID system essentially comprises two components: the mobile datastorage media, which are also referred to as an encoder, transponder,RFID tag, ID transmitter or ID card and are carried by a user or arefitted to an object to be identified such as a commercial product, andthe reader, which is also referred to as a base station or transceiverand reads the data from the transponders or writes new data to thelatter. In addition, the reader can also provide power for thetransponder. An antenna which, in simple cases, is in the form of anair-core coil is needed at both ends to transmit the data. Depending ontheir design, the transponders store information which ranges from asimple identification number to complex user or measured data. In thecase of transponders, a distinction is made between active and passiveidentification. Passive identification is distinguished by the fact thatthe transponder can be continuously checked by the reader without theassistance of the user or the product. They obtain their power from thereader's magnetic field. As a result, they are very robust and requireno maintenance. If the encoder is within a certain range of thetransmission and reception unit, identification is effectedautomatically. The range is generally restricted by the radio fieldattenuation. By contrast, in the case of an active identificationsystem, communication is actively initiated by the user from thetransponder. In this case, a user must operate the transponder manually.Active transponders have their own power source, usually in the form ofa primary source. The limited life is disadvantageous here.

Various radio-based transmission technologies are possible or customary:LF systems in the frequency range of 100-300 kHz, RF systems at 433 MHzor 867 MHz and radio-frequency microwave systems, which usually operateat the frequencies of 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz, 9.5 GHz or 24 GHz. Transpondersin the kHz frequency range have ranges of a few centimeters. They arereferred to as proximity tags, since they operate in direct proximity.Transponders which operate in the MHz frequency range are calledvicinity tags, since, with ranges of up to approximately 2 m, they areused in the vicinity of the registration devices. Active transpondershaving a range of up to several meters essentially operate at thefrequency of 2.4 GHz.

These RFID systems are also increasingly being used in supermarkets,with the proximity transponders, in particular, being used in this case.In the commercial environment, in addition to identifying the commercialproduct, RFID tags of this type have the advantage of a considerableimprovement in product tracking, thus making the logistical processeseasier for the manufacturer to comprehend than is the case with abarcode. In particular, the transponders are resistant to environmentalinfluences, for example high and low temperatures, moisture, vibration,impact, dust, oil and dirt. Depending on the design of the finishedproduct, the transponder may be fitted discreetly or invisibly, forexample in the packaging.

In the commercial environment, particularly in supermarkets,self-service checkouts are increasingly being used to lower thepersonnel costs. Various self-service checkouts are known, in the caseof which the products selected by the customer are registered and anautomatic bill is produced. The customer takes the products, which havenormally been deposited in a shopping cart, to the self-service checkoutand subjects them to a scanning operation in which the barcode on theproducts is normally scanned by a barcode reader. The products are thenplaced in a packing area which may also be a further shopping cart or ashopping bag and which is coupled to scales. When the products are beingidentified by scanning the barcode, the product price, the type ofproduct and the weight are determined. When the customer then places theproducts in the packing area, they are weighed again and the weighingresult is compared with the weight intended for this type of product orwith the weight which was determined when recording the weight ofproducts which had to be weighed individually. If the comparisonvariables match, incorrect evaluation or an attempt to deceive can beruled out.

EP 338 376 A2 describes a method for optically scanning markings, suchas barcodes, on articles at a self-service checkout.

If, however, products are now offered which in some cases are providedwith a barcode identification mark and in other cases are provided withan RFID identification mark, the cashier (in the case of an attendedcash register) identifies whether the product is provided with an RFIDtag or with a barcode and can then use a barcode reader or an RFIDreader according to the marking which has been applied. By contrast, inthe self-service environment, it has hitherto not been possible to usethe customary self-service checkouts to register these products whichare identified using an RFID transponder.

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to make it possible toregister articles having a barcode and/or an RFID tag in a reliable andrapid manner at a self-service checkout.

This object is achieved by means of the features specified in claim 1.The installation of a barcode reader and of an RFID reader in the regionof a product registration area of a self-service checkout makes itpossible both to register articles which are provided with an RFID tag(transponder) and/or to register articles which are provided with abarcode. In order to avoid double registration in the case of articleshaving both a barcode identifier and an RFID tag (transponder), thebarcode reader and the RFID tag are connected to a data processingdevice, with the result that, if an article is registered twice, onlythe single price is calculated.

Furthermore, the product registration area is advantageously providedwith a camera. The images recorded by the camera are forwarded to thedata processing device, and image processing is used to determine howmany products have passed through the product registration area. Doubleregistration in the case of products having both a barcode and an RFIDtag can be ruled out by means of comparison with the image recorded.

In order to prevent theft, the RFID reader is furthermore advantageouslyin the form of a transmission device such that writeable transponderscan be rendered invalid by transmitting an appropriate code. Thesetransponders are preferably used for expensive goods. When the customerthen leaves the store, further RFID readers may be installed in theregion of the exit, said further readers receiving the signals fromtransponders that have not been rendered invalid and thus being able toindicate the theft of the article, for example by triggering an alarm.

Further details and advantages of the invention can be found in thedescription below and in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1: shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of aself-service checkout according to the invention;

FIG. 2: shows a schematic perspective illustration of a modified form ofthe invention having a transport device; and

FIG. 3: shows a block diagram of product registration.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a self-service checkout 1 whichcomprises a support housing 2. The support housing 2 has a productregistration area 3 which is provided with a barcode reader (not shownin any more detail here) and an RFID reader. Furthermore, scales forregistering items such as fruit and vegetables may also beadvantageously integrated in the product registration area 3.

In addition to a product registration area 3, at which the customersmanually scan the products, a transport device 20 such as a conveyorbelt is provided in a further embodiment (shown in FIG. 2) of theinvention, the customers placing the products onto said conveyor beltand the latter transporting the products into the scanning region of aproduct registration area 30. In this case, it is conceivable for theRFID reader 40 to be fitted underneath the conveyor belt 20 in order tomake optimum use of the space. One or more barcode readers 50 arepreferably fitted to the side of, or above, the transport device inorder to make it possible to register the barcode in all threedimensions. Scales 60 for registering items such as fruit and vegetablesmay furthermore be integrated underneath the conveyor belt 20.

The RFID reader emits transmitted signals, modulated over a broadbandwidth, as required or continuously and then waits for the receptionof reflected signals (echo signals), that is to say that the RFID readeris in the form of a transmitter and a receiver. If a product having atransponder comes near the RFID reader, the reader's magnetic fieldactivates the RFID data storage medium (transponder) by virtue of thepower needed to operate the transponder being transmitted via a couplingelement. The transponder behaves in a passive manner outside thereader's response range which it generally does not have its own powersupply. In the commercial environment, in particular, use will be madeof transponders which have only a very short range so that it is notpossible to register undesired articles. After the transponder has beenactivated, communication is set up between the transponder and thereader so that the data stored in the transponder can be transmitted tothe reader. Transponders used in the commercial environment aregenerally permanently programmed data storage media which reproduce onlythe data which were written in when the transponder was manufactured.However, in the case of expensive goods, in particular, use may be madeof transponders which can be written to by the reader, with the resultthat, for example, the transponder can be rendered invalid by thereader. In this case, a further RFID reader which can receive thesignals from transponders which have not been rendered invalid may beinstalled in the region of the supermarket exit. The theft of thearticle can then be indicated, for example, by triggering an alarm. Inaddition, it may also be necessary, for reasons of data protection, torender special transponders invalid.

A display 4 for displaying customer information such as the price, theweight, the type of product etc. is furthermore provided, the display 4preferably being situated in the vicinity of the product registrationarea 3. If, however, a self-service checkout is involved in which theproducts are transported to the product registration area 30 using atransport device 20 such as a conveyor belt, the display 4 may also besituated at another location. The display 4 may be in the form of aliquid crystal display screen and may be provided with a touchscreenfunction. Provided beside the product registration area 3 is a productpacking area which comprises a weighing device 5 so that it is possibleto record the weight of the products which have been packed.Furthermore, a swipe card reader 6 and a card insertion reader 8 forcredit cards and EC cards and a PIN input keypad 7 for paymentoperations are advantageously provided. In addition, the productregistration area 3 can also be recorded visually using a video camera10, which is preferably fastened to the display housing 9. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 2, a camera 100 is fitted to the productregistration area 30 to the side of the conveyor belt 20. However, itmay also be positioned above the transport device 20.

It is furthermore possible, within the scope of the invention, toprovide the self-service checkout with a cash module for paying withbanknotes and coins.

After selecting the products, the customer generally takes the productswhich have been collected in a shopping cart to the self-servicecheckout 1, takes the products out of the cart and scans them using theproduct registration area 3 or places the products on the transportdevice 20, which supplies them to the product registration area 30. Thebarcode which has been applied to the products or an RFID identificationmark is registered at the product registration area 3, 30. After productregistration, the customer places the products on the weighing device 5,on which the weight of all of the products which have already beenregistered is added up. This weighing device 5 is used to prevent theft.If the weight of the articles which have been placed on the weighingdevice 5 does not match the weight of the articles which have beenregistered, an appropriate message is output on the display 4 or isoutput audibly, said message informing the customer to reregister thearticle which has just been packed.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information received by the barcode readeror the RFID reader is forwarded to a data processing device in theself-service checkout and is processed further there. In particular, aprice provided in a database is assigned to an article which has beenscanned in. If an article is provided with both a barcode and an RFIDencoder, both items of information may be registered simultaneously.Since the information is forwarded to the data processing device,allowance is made for double registration and only the single price iscalculated. Since each product is also identified by its weight, thedata processing device may, in addition, also be connected to theweighing device 5. In the event of double registration, comparison withthe weight G determined on the weighing device 5 then makes it possibleto determine whether there is actually only one article. In addition,the camera 10, 100 can also be linked to the data processing. ProcessingB the image recorded by the camera 10, 100 determines the number ofproducts situated in the region of the product registration area 3, 30.In the event of double registration in the case of an RFID tag and abarcode, comparison with the visual result makes it possible todetermine and thus calculate the true number of products. In addition,camera monitoring can be used if barcode registration and/or RFIDscanning has/have not been effected. Since the camera 10, 100 hasrecorded an excess number of products in this case, the customer'sattention is drawn, audibly or visually, to the fact that individualarticles need to be reregistered.

If the customer has scanned in all of the products and the weight of theproducts which have been placed on the weighing device 5 still matchesthe weight that results from product registration, the customer pushes abutton at the end of the operation, in order to signal that all of theproducts have now been registered, and thus initiates the paymentoperation. The total price is displayed on the display 4 and thecustomer can now use a credit card or his EC card or cash to pay thebill.

In addition, it is possible for a second video camera (not shown here)to record the weighing device 5 in order to make it possible toreregister articles which were inadvertently not scanned. The camera isactivated when the weight indicated by the weighing device 5 changeswithout an article having been scanned or registered by means of an RFIDtag. The camera thus records the last article placed onto the weighingdevice 5. This image from the camera can be conveyed to an operator onthe display 11, said operator thus being informed about the articlewhich has not been registered and accordingly being able to request thecustomer to reregister the article which has inadvertently not beenregistered. It is furthermore possible for this image recording to alsobe linked to the data processing of the barcode reader and the RFIDreader in order to avoid, by means of the visual check, doubleregistration of products which are provided with both marking systems.

Two self-service checkouts are preferably combined so that it ispossible to arrange a plurality of self-service checkouts in aspace-saving manner.

1.-8. (canceled)
 9. A self-service checkout having a productregistration area for registering the products, a display for displayingand inputting information, a card reader for paying for the products anda data processing device, the product registration area having a readingdevice with a barcode reader and an RFID reader, and the signals fromthe barcode reader and the signals from the RFID reader being forwardedto the data processing device, wherein a camera is provided for thepurpose of registering the products in the region of the productregistration area, and an image that is recorded by the camera issupplied to an image processing device that is connected to the dataprocessing device, in which case, if an article is registered twice,both by means of a barcode and by means of an RFID tag, the number ofthe article registered is obtained from the image recorded.
 10. Theself-service device as claimed in claim 9 wherein a weighing device isprovided.
 11. The self-service checkout as claimed in claim 10 whereinthe weighing device is connected to the data processing device, in whichcase, if an article is registered twice, both by means of a barcode andby means of an RFID tag, the number of the article registered isobtained from the weight determined.
 12. The self-service productregistration area as claimed in claim 9 wherein the RFID reader is inthe form of a read and write device.
 13. The self-service productregistration area as claimed in claim 9 wherein a cash module isprovided for paying with banknotes or coins
 14. The self-servicecheckout as claimed in claim 9 wherein a transport device which can beused to transport the products through the scanning region registrationarea is provided.
 15. The self-service checkout as claimed in as claimedin claim 14, wherein the RFID reader is arranged underneath thetransport device.